Sanja Bestic

Early life

She was born to Biljana Gajić Beštić, an artist, and to Branislav Beštić, a soccer player. She has a younger brother, Vladimir Beštić, former Serbian soccer player who later became a head coach at Super Soccer Star in NYC.

The civil war in the former Yugoslavia broke out when Sanja Beštić was ten years old. She would continue to live through that war and the two that followed, feeling the greatest impact of the wars during the Belgrade bombings in 1999.

Sanja attended Zemun High School (Zemunska Gimnazija) while simultaneously studying at the renowned theatre studio and acting school run by Mika Aleksić, a highly respected theatre arts professor. She pursued theatre directing at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts at Belgrade University (University of Arts in Belgrade) under the guidance of Ivana Vujić. She continued to explore the world of theatre and acting during her graduate studies. While attending a fellowship at the Moving Academy for Performing Arts in Amsterdam, she refined her artistic coaching skills. Sanja also worked intensively with the Theater of Shadows. Her move to New York in 2004 gave her the opportunity to study at The Michael Chekhov Acting Studio and the Lee Strasburg Institute for Theater and Film.

Career

Sanja started her career in theater at an early age. During her time as a student, Sanja was the assistant director to many famous directors of the former Yugoslavia and Serbia. She has worked with: Dušan Jovanović, Ljubiša Ristić, Slobodan Umnkovski, Aleksandar Popovski, Filip Gajić, Gorčin Stojanović, Egon Savin, Ivana Vujić and Jug Radivojević. Her work as a student also included productions with the Association of Non-Verbal Theaters in Belgrade, Serbia. She was member of the Svan Theater, the only theater where non-verbal performances set to music were put on. There she performed and directed. One of her plays, the “Play Against Violence”, showcased the life and emotions of Serbians during the Belgrade bombings in 1999.

Sanja's first US premier, Canary Soup written by Miloš Radović, played at The Kraine Theater, an off-Broadway theater located in New York City's East Village in 2004 was a big success which opened the door to Off-Broadway. The story about male/female relationships and the dilemma of whether or not to marry played to sold-out audiences from October - November, 2004. In the years to follow, Sanja continued her success. Her focus on Balkan classic and modern drama allowed her to introduce talented Eastern European writers to the American audience. In a 2010 interview, Sanja stated that “The Weeping Game is a timeless classic Serbian piece” which she wished to introduce to American audiences. Additionally, Sanja has also directed American classic and modern drama, such as Sidetracked, her fifth Off-Broadway play, written by John Pastore, played at Abingdon Theater in New York City in 2011, The Tiger written by Murray Schisgal, played at Abingdon Theater in New York City in 2012, Want & Need written by John Krisiukenas, played at Payan Theater in New York City in 2012.

Her love for theater as well as passion, talent and determination has allowed her to produce and direct a number of Off-Broadway Shows to date, including Therapy, written by Jordan Cvetanovic and produced by KinoKamera Inc. Sanja has also directed Touch my Knees by David Albahari, The Government Inspector by Nikolai V. Gogol, Two Fools in Love by Dusko Radovic, and Painkillers by Neda Radulovic. Her recent production of The Doll (Miro Gavran, Storefront + BenchProductions, The Local Theater NYC 2012 ), and All About Women (Miro Gavran, Storefront + BenchProductions, The Local Theater, NYC 2012).

In May 2013 she wrapped up Tesla written by British award winning playwright Sheri Graubert and produced by EasyTheaters Productions based in London. Tesla premiered in May 2013 in New York City. The play was a sold out success, winning the young director the Tesla Award. It starred James Lee Taylor as Nikola Tesla, one of the most respected Serbian-American scientists in the world. The play will soon be moving to London’s West End. Furthermore, Sanja's goal is to take this story a step further in 2014 by directing a documentary movie about the mysterious life of Nikola Tesla. These projects are highly supported by The Tesla Science Foundation and Office for Cooperation with Diaspora and Serbs in the Region.

Nikola Tesla is finally beginning to attract real attention and encourage serious debate nearly 70 years after his death. Nikola Tesla, Serbian-American scientist, the man who lit the world, gave his greatest contribution to science and technological progress of the world as the inventor of the rotating magnetic field and of the complete system of production and distribution of electrical energy (motors, generators) based on the use of alternate currents. His name was given to the SI unit for magnetic induction ("tesla"). Tesla also constructed the generators of high-frequency alternate currents and high-voltage coreless transformer known today as "Tesla Coil". Sanja has managed to bring to life moments of Tesla's life that the public had yet to see and displayed important moments and sequences of Tesla's life, which for mysterious reasons have remained a well kept secret to date. Tesla whom we might have referred to as holy, sacred, died before he was recognized as someone who truly marked the history of mankind. Sanja's play was supported by the Office for Cooperation with Diaspora and Serbs in the Region, Consulate General of the Republic of Serbia in New York, Vuk Jeremić - Serbian physicist, politician and President of the 67th session of United Nations General Assembly, the Tesla Science Foundation, the Nikola Tesla Club, and the Nikola Tesla Inventors Club in the US.

Aside from theater, Sanja has also worked in advertising and has put her artistic ability to work in the corporate world. Her resume includes work experience at various Serbian advertising and marketing companies. She has also directed television commercials and short films. Her work has included TV commercials for Henkel (German), Societe Generale (French), and Vegeta (Podravka) (Croatia). Additionally, she has worked for Iteam Events, an international marketing agency, where she directed and produced stage events at various theaters, ballrooms and other venues. She is also actively involved in humanitarian work.

Sanja entered into an exclusive partnership with the media company KinoKamera Inc in 2009 and Storefront + Bench in 2011 as their sole theater director. In 2010, Sanja co-founded The Local Theater NYC, a non-profit, multicultural, interdisciplinary art gallery committed to the research, production, presentation and interpretation of contemporary art. In 2012, Sanja started a unique Art Fusion Project (AFP) in Belgrade (Serbia), which connects Belgrade and cosmopolitans worldwide through modern arts. The Art Fusion Project (AFP) is an international multimedia art movement. From its debut in 2012, AFP has been dedicated to the process and promotion of artists through innovative ideas and projects. Through the organization of an annual exhibition, multimedia events and educational seminars, AFP works to draw attention to the arts and its positive impacts on society. The mission of AFP is to support artistic creativity through education, management, and exposure for artists at the global level. Music, visual art, dramatic arts, architecture and design, as well as other realms of innovative artistic expression are brought together under the AFP's multimedia project umbrella, allowing artist to freely express their points of view and be socially engaged through their art and ideas. She has also co-founded Art Fusion Visual Identity, an advertising agency which specializes in image consulting, new vision, advertising, digital, branding, events, talent searching, PR and publishing in Belgrade, Serbia.

Sanja is currently in the process of writing her first novel, “In Six Hands” with two well-known Serbian authors, David Albahari and Marčelo (Marko Selic Marchelo). Its release is expected in the US and Serbia.

Sanja is the associate producer for the highly anticipated Web Series "Catch-30". Bestic did an Off-Broadway play titled "Jackie and Marilyn", in the spring of 2014 at Theatre Row (New York City) with Lorraine Farris Sage as Jackie.

Upcoming for Bestic is a new contemporary adaptation of Federico Garcia Lorca's Blood Wedding. She will bring a fresh new twist to Lorca's story of loss, lust, and love and asks "Is blood thicker than water?" The production is said to be opening sometime in April 2016 for a monthlong engagement.

Awards

In 2013, Sanja Bestic was nominated and won an award by the Tesla Science Foundation, a result of her great efforts to promote the life and work of scientist Nikola Tesla through her theater and film project "Tesla".